Cryosphere Data Access and Tools

NASA data range from measuring the current and historical extent of snow and ice to tracking its formation and melting. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.

Dataset	Geographic Region	Temporal Extent	Data Format	Potential Application Areas	Related Subtopics
ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Level 1 ScanSAR Product	Global	2014-08-01 to Present		Sea ice coverage and movement tracking	sea ice
ARIA Sentinel-1 Geocoded Unwrapped Interferograms	Global	2014-06-15 to Present		Glacier flow velocity estimation	glaciers, ice sheets
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L2A Global Geolocated Photon Data V006	Global	2018-10-13 to Present	HDF5	Sea ice freeboard determination Ice sheet mass balance studies	glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Land Ice Height V006	Global	2018-10-14 to Present	HDF5	Ice sheet mass balance assessment Glacier thinning rate monitoring Ice sheet contribution to sea level rise Ice flow dynamics research Ice shelf stability monitoring Climate model validation for ice processes Cryosphere change detection Water resource planning in glaciated regions	glaciers, ice sheets
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Sea Ice Height V006	Global	2018-10-14 to Present	HDF5	Sea ice thickness estimation Ice volume calculation for mass balance Arctic shipping route safety assessment Climate model validation for sea ice Ice age and type discrimination	sea ice
GLIMS Glacier Database, Version 1	Global	1850-01-01 to Present	WMS WFS GML ASCII Shapefile KML	Global glacier inventory and monitoring Water resource planning in glaciated regions Glacier hazard identification Long-term glacier change detection	glaciers, ice sheets
MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061	Global	2000-02-24 to Present	HDF-EOS2	Snow extent mapping and monitoring Climate model validation for snow cover Flood risk prediction from snowmelt Cold region transportation planning Albedo feedback studies in climate research	snow ice
MODIS/Terra Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 250m SIN Grid V061	Global	2000-02-24 to Present	HDF-EOS2	Snow cover mapping	snow ice
Near-Real-Time DMSP SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations, Version 2	Arctic, Antarctica, Polar, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere	2021-11-01 to Present	NetCDF-4 PNG	Sea ice edge position tracking Rapid response to changing ice conditions	sea ice
OPERA Surface Displacement from Sentinel-1 validated product (Version 1)	Global	2016-07-01 to Present	NetCDF-4 XML PNG Zarr	Ice sheet and glacier movement tracking	glaciers, ice sheets
RSS SSMIS OCEAN PRODUCT GRIDS 3-DAY AVERAGE FROM DMSP F17 NETCDF V7	Global	2006-12-12 to Present	NetCDF-4	Sea ice edge mapping in polar regions	sea ice
Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data, Version 2	Polar	1978-10-26 to Present	NetCDF-4 PNG	Long-term sea ice trend analysis Arctic amplification studies Polar ecosystem management Polar climate feedback mechanism research Multi-decadal ice variability studies	sea ice
SENTINEL-1B_DUAL_POL_GRD_HIGH_RES	Global	2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24		Snow cover extent monitoring	frozen ground, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, snow ice
SENTINEL-1B_SLC	Global	2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24		Coherence analysis for subtle change detection Polarimetric target characterization Glacier velocity measurement and ice monitoring	frozen ground, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, snow ice
VIIRS/JPSS1 Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 375m SIN Grid, Version 2	Global	2018-01-05 to Present	HDF-EOS5	High-resolution snow extent monitoring Snowmelt timing detection	snow ice
VIIRS/NPP Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 375m SIN Grid, Version 2	Global	2012-01-19 to Present	HDF-EOS5	Daily snow cover extent mapping Snow accumulation and ablation monitoring Water supply forecasting in snowmelt-dependent regions Winter storm impact assessment	snow ice
VIIRS/NPP Imagery Resolution 6-Min L1B Swath 375 m	Global	2012-01-19 to Present	NetCDF	Ice edge and sea ice monitoring	sea ice

Cryosphere Datasets

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Dataset Sort descending	Version	Platform	Instrument	Temporal Extent	Spatial Extent	Spatial Resolution	Data Format
High Mountain Asia UCLA Daily Snow Reanalysis V001	1	LANDSAT-5, LANDSAT-7, LANDSAT-8, Terra	TM, ETM+, OLI, MODIS	1999-10-01 to 2017-09-30	N: 45 S: 27 E: 105 W: 60		netCDF-4
IceBridge Accumulation Radar L1B Geolocated Radar Echo Strength Profiles V002	2	DC-8, P-3B	Accumulation Radar	2013-03-21 to 2018-05-01	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4, XML, JPEG
IceBridge ATM L1B Elevation and Return Strength with Waveforms V001	1	C-130, DC-8, G-V, HU-25A, HU-25C, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	ATM	2017-07-17 to 2019-11-20	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		HDF5
IceBridge ATM L1B Qfit Elevation and Return Strength V001	1	AIRCRAFT, DC-8, P-3B	ATM	2009-03-31 to 2012-11-08	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		Binary
IceBridge ATM L2 Icessn Elevation, Slope, and Roughness V002	2	C-130, DC-8, G-V, HU-25A, HU-25C, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	ATM	2009-03-31 to 2019-11-20	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		ASCII
IceBridge ATM Waveform Derived Snow Effective Grain Radius V001	1	NASA DC-8, NASA P-3	ATM	2017-07-17 to 2019-09-11	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180	0.5 Meters x 0.5 Meters	netCDF-4
IceBridge DMS L3 Ames Stereo Pipeline Photogrammetric DEM V001	1	B-200, BT-67, C-130, DC-8, DHC-3, G-V, HU-25A, HU-25C, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	DMS	2009-10-16 to 2017-07-25	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		GeoTIFF
IceBridge HiCARS 1 L2 Geolocated Ice Thickness V001	1	BT-67, DHC-6	HiCARS1	2009-01-02 to 2010-12-21	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		XML, ASCII
IceBridge HiCARS 2 L2 Geolocated Ice Thickness V001	1	BT-67, DHC-6	HiCARS2	2010-12-05 to 2013-01-20	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		XML, ASCII
IceBridge KT19 IR Surface Temperature V001	1	DC-8, P-3B	KT19 Pyrometer	2011-10-12 to 2019-05-17	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	15 Meters x 15 Meters	ASCII
IceBridge KT19 IR Surface Temperature V002	2	C-130, P-3B	KT19 Pyrometer	2012-03-05 to 2019-05-17	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180	15 Meters x 15 Meters	ASCII
IceBridge Ku-Band Radar L1B Geolocated Radar Echo Strength Profiles V002	2	C-130, DC-8, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	Ku-Band Radar	2012-10-12 to 2016-11-18	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4, XML, JPEG
IceBridge L4 Sea Ice Freeboard, Snow Depth, and Thickness V001	1	C-130, DC-8, P-3B	ATM, CAMBOT, DMS, SNOW RADAR	2009-03-19 to 2013-04-25	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		XML, CSV
IceBridge MCoRDS L1B Geolocated Radar Echo Strength Profiles V002	2	BT-67, C-130, DC-8, G-V, NASA DC-8, NOAA Twin Otter, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	MCoRDS	2009-10-16 to 2019-11-20	N: 83.1 S: 59 E: 28.5 W: -100.2 , N: -57 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4, JPEG
IceBridge MCoRDS L2 Ice Thickness V001	1	BT-67, C-130, DC-8, G-V, NASA DC-8, NOAA Twin Otter, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	MCoRDS	2009-10-16 to 2019-11-20	N: -57 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 83.1 S: 59 E: 28.5 W: -100.2		CSV
IceBridge MCoRDS L3 Gridded Ice Thickness, Surface, and Bottom V002	2	AIRCRAFT, DC-8, P-3B	RADAR ECHO SOUNDERS, ATM, MCoRDS	2006-01-01 to 2012-12-31	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180		PNG, ASCII, Shapefile, MAT, CSV
IceBridge Merged Photon Counting Lidar/Profiler L4 Surface Slope and Elevations V001	1	BT-67	Sigma Space Lidar	2010-11-25 to 2012-12-04	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	10 Meters x 10 Meters	HDF5
IceBridge Narrow Swath ATM L1B Elevation and Return Strength with Waveforms V001	1	C-130, DC-8, G-V, HU-25C, P-3B	ATM	2017-10-29 to 2019-11-20	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180		HDF5
IceBridge Narrow Swath ATM L1B Qfit Elevation and Return Strength V001	1	DC-8, P-3B	ATM	2011-03-16 to 2012-11-08	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	2 Meters x 2 Meters	Binary
IceBridge PARIS L2 Ice Thickness V001	1	AIRCRAFT, P-3B	RADAR ECHO SOUNDERS, PARIS	2009-04-01 to 2009-05-02	N: 84 S: 60 E: -11 W: -73		ASCII
IceBridge Photon Counting Lidar L1B Subset Geolocated Photon Elevations V001	1	BT-67	Sigma Space Lidar	2010-11-25 to 2012-12-11	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		HDF5
IceBridge Photon Counting Lidar L1B Unclassified Geolocated Photon Elevations V001	1	BT-67	Sigma Space Lidar	2011-11-29 to 2011-12-23	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		HDF5
IceBridge Snow Radar L1B Geolocated Radar Echo Strength Profiles V002	2	C-130, DC-8, DHC-3, G-V, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	SNOW RADAR	2009-03-31 to 2021-05-13	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4, XML, JPEG
IceBridge UAF Lidar Profiler L1B Geolocated Surface Elevation Triplets V001	1	DHC-3	UAF Profiler	2009-05-22 to 2009-06-02	N: 59.3 S: 56.94611 E: -132.32944 W: -137.52667		LAS
IceBridge UAF Lidar Scanner L1B Geolocated Surface Elevation Triplets V001	1	BT-67, DHC-3	UAF Scanner	2009-08-19 to 2020-06-05	N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 72 S: 55 E: -130 W: -156		LAS

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Cryosphere Data Access and Tools

Commonly Used Datasets for Applications in the Cryosphere

Cryosphere Datasets

Cryosphere Data Tools

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